By Chris McCall
Canada.com
July 19, 2008
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=d219dcb4-8e94-42f0-adb4-8407d95d1d80
SYDNEY - Pope Benedict XVI's historic apology for child sex abuse by Catholic priests should have been made to a cathedral full of victims rather than clergymen, activists said at the weekend.
The pope told Catholic bishops, seminarians and novices in Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral on Saturday he was "deeply sorry" for the abuse of children by predatory priests in Australia and called for the guilty to be punished.
 |
| Pope Benedict XVI said he was "deeply sorry" for the abuse of children by priests in Australia and called for the guilty to be punished. Photo by Greg Wood |
"Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious (order members) in this country," Benedict told the gathering.
"I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering," he said.
"Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice."
His remarks were the strongest he has used in confronting the scourge which has rocked the Catholic church globally, but failed to satisfy some victims.
"He made the apology to priests and bishops. I wanted to be there while he apologized," said John McNally, 53, a sex abuse victim and official with the Broken Rites victim support organization.
"It should have been a cathedral full of victims," McNally told AFP.
Broken Rites said its request for a meeting with the pope during his visit for the church's World Youth Day celebrations went unanswered.
The six-day celebration, which drew an estimated 215,000 pilgrims to Sydney was due to end Sunday with a papal mass that organizers said was attended by up to half-a-million people.
Another victim, Stephen Woods, 46, also said that victims should have been present to hear the apology.
He gave the apology "five out of 10", saying it compared poorly with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to Aborigines for past wrongs made earlier this year.
"I was moved by what seems to be his sincerity," Woods said of the pope's remarks, adding that he had been abused by two Catholic brothers and a priest between the ages of 11 and 14.
"But when he said that people need to support the bishops I thought: more of the same.
"It is the bishops who have always used the lawyers in shocking ways against the victims, and that stops the victims obtaining proper justice in the courts.
"I have had years of depression. There is a feeling of inadequacy and powerlessness in my life," he said.
Wayne Elliott, 45, a child sex abuse victim who attends meetings with victims of abuse by priests, said many had suffered years of emotional turmoil as a result.
"Their reaction is anger and despair, of being dismissed, trivialized. Also they don't know where to turn," he said.
The parents of two young girls abused by a priest in Melbourne described the apology as disappointing, after returning from a British holiday in the hope of meeting the pope to press for lifelong care for victims.
Anthony and Christine Fosters' daughter Emma committed suicide this year aged 26, after struggling for years to deal with abuse by a priest at primary school.
Her sister Katie, who was also abused, turned to alcohol in her teens and was left brain-damaged after being hit by a car while drunk.
"They are only words - the same thing we've been hearing for 13 years," said the girls' father. It is simply an apology, there is nothing practical there which is what we were looking for," he said.
Helen Last from the clergy sexual abuse advocacy group In Good Faith and Associates said: "It is just a drop in a bucket - a bucket full of tears that all of us who work with victims have been sitting with for 25 to 30 years in Australia."
But John Hennessey, a spokesman for victims of abuse at the hands of Christian Brothers schools across Australia, welcomed the pontiff's apology.
"He didn't have to use the words 'shame' and 'betrayal' and he used the words compassion and care. This is the sort of language that we love to hear."
The executive director of the child sexual assault advocacy group Bravehearts, Hetty Johnston, also applauded the pope for his apology but called for further action.
"The victims should now be properly compensated and the church needs to deliver all allegations to police for investigation," she said.
"For the victims it's going to be interesting to see if anything changes as a result of those words.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.